


Birthday Boys

by tinx_r



Category: Riptide - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-14
Updated: 2011-10-14
Packaged: 2017-10-24 14:56:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/264794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/pseuds/tinx_r
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Three different boys, three different birthday celebrations...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthday Boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [catyah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/catyah/gifts).



Cody's never organized in time to buy Nick a proper present. No matter how early he starts, he dithers and changes his mind until Murray wants to wring his neck. So Murray's quietly taken over the present-buying -- model cars, binoculars, Swiss Army knives. In a lot of ways, Nick's still fourteen.

It's one of the things Murray loves about him.

The night before, he wraps the presents while Cody writes the card, both of them acting nonchalant while Nick's in the room. Pretending there's nothing going on.

Nick's woken with a kiss and a request for a flight in the Mimi. A lazy day on Fisherman's Island, followed by a steak dinner and a longer, lazier evening, and Nick's proclaiming, like he does every year, that his birthday's been the best ever.

*

Buying for the Boz is nearly impossible. We try, don't get me wrong, but we only get it right about one time in a thousand. A couple years back, Nick hit on the idea of taking him out for a special treat, and so far that's going great.

Disneyland, Waterworld, the yacht museum -- although come to think of it, that last one wasn't so much of a hit. But this year, we've got a great plan. There's an airshow, old planes and new ones, and Nick knows the pilots.

Murray doesn't know it yet, but he's going up in a P47 Thunderbolt and taking part in the aerial display.

It's gonna be his best birthday yet! Especially when he lands and finds Melba waiting for him.

*

Shopping for Cody's like darning for an elephant. You can't figure out where to start, and when you do, you got a good chance of tangling yourself up so tight you'll never get out.

Not that he's fussy; that's not it. But when you get it right, he gets this smile, his eyes all soft, like you've done better than he imagined. Like he was expecting a rotten potato and you went ahead and gave him a chocolate cake.

Cake's another thing we do for him. One year, way back now, I made him a cake. Sort of a joke. Put the candles on, one for every year, teased him it was gonna burn the place down. He laughed, but I could see in his eyes how much he loved it.

A different flavor every year--this time around, I'm thinking orange. He likes that butter icing, 'specially the chocolate. We make a big deal out of icing it up, making it fancy. This year, it'll be a goldfish.

He'll laugh, and then he'll sit in my lap and blow out the candles. Murray gets nearly as excited about the cake and presents as Cody does, and me? I'll watch. I'll watch, store every smile, every laugh; and love them.


End file.
